The running back position isn't as glamorous as it once was. The days of a single back getting 20-plus carries per game has been replaced by multiple backs splitting reps. But every team still needs a quality running game, and having one of the league's top backs is still extremely valuable. In an attempt to rank the NFL's top running backs, SportsDay's Jon Machota came up with 15 backs he'd pick if he was trying to build a team to win the Super Bowl this year. In reverse order, here are the top 15.

Part 5 of an eight-part series examining the Cowboys’ free-agent needs position by position. The NFL free-agency period begins Tuesday:

The Cowboys were a much more efficient team on the ground than they were the previous season. But that’s faint praise when you consider the 1,265 yards the team rushed for in 2012 was a franchise low for a 16-game season.

The club added only 239 yards to that total in 2013, but that’s a function of the reluctance of the coaching staff to run the ball more than it was an indictment of the backs and the blocking. The Cowboys averaged a healthy 4.5 yards a carry and picked up more tough yards in the red zone than they have in recent years.

DeMarco Murray led the way, breaking the 1,000-yard barrier for the first time in his career. Murray remained relatively healthy — something he struggled to do his first two seasons — and finished with 1,121 yards and nine rushing touchdowns.

His average of 5.2 yards a carry was better than any other back who rushed for more than 660 yards last season. He finished 10th in the league in rushing and was a consistent threat in the passing game, catching 53 passes for 350 yards and a touchdown.

No other back broke the 200-yard barrier. Rookie Joseph Randle started for two games in October when Murray was hurt and averaged just 2.7 yards a carry in those games. He carried the ball only 10 times in the final nine weeks of the regular season and finished with 164 yards and two touchdowns.

The club had high hopes for Lance Dunbar as a change of pace to Murray. But the coaching staff appeared to lose confidence in him after he lost a fumble in Week 2 in the loss to Kansas City and then was sidelined by injury. He worked his way back onto the field in November and rushed for 82 yards in a win over Oakland, showing the one-two punch the Cowboys envisioned Murray and Dunbar would provide. But Dunbar was injured that game and wouldn’t play again, finishing the season with just 150 yards on 30 carries.

Phillip Tanner did little, and Tyler Clutts was added late in the season as a blocking fullback.

Bottom line: The Cowboys developed into a good running team over the final two months of the regular season. They picked up the tough yards, slashed defenses for some significant gains and cut down on the number of negative runs.

The play-calling didn’t reflect this improvement. The Cowboys had been so poor on the ground for so long, it’s almost as if the coaching staff didn’t believe their eyes. The proof: While the Cowboys finished No. 24 in rushing with an average of 94 yards, they tied for No. 7 in yards per carry with an average of 4.5 yards.

Notable: Murray is the first back since Julius Jones in 2006 and only the second back since Emmitt Smith left the Cowboys to rush for more than 1,000 yards. Who is the last back other than Smith or Tony Dorsett to rush for at least 1,000 yards in consecutive seasons? That would be Calvin Hill in 1972 and ’73.

Cowboys Need Meter

Three out of five stars

Possible targets

Player

Team

Comment

Ben Tate

Houston

He has rushed for more than 750 yards in two of his three seasons. A tough runner.

Donald Brown

Indianapolis

A nice complimentary back who picked up 751 yards from scrimmage last season and scored eight touchdowns.

Rashad Jennings

Oakland

He rushed for 73 or more yards in five of his final eight games and had six games with more than 100 yards from scrimmage for the season.

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